Craft Stick Nativity
This sweet popsicle stick Nativity craft is the kind of project that fills your home with Christmas cheer the moment you start making it. It’s quick, easy, and meaningful—perfect for little hands and for families who want to keep the focus on the true reason for the season.
Using simple materials like jumbo craft sticks, felt, paint, and a star, kids can build their very own miniature Nativity scene. It’s wonderfully hands-on for toddlers and preschoolers, yet still fun for older kids to personalize. Whether you’re crafting at home, in a classroom, or at church, this is one of those projects that turns into a keepsake the moment it dries.
Fun Ways to Use the Popsicle Stick Manger Scene
Christmas Tree Ornament
Add a ribbon loop to the back and hang your Nativity right on the tree. Kids love spotting their handmade ornament year after year.
Refrigerator Magnet
Glue a magnet strip to the back for an easy Christmas decoration that brightens up the fridge all season long.
Gift Tag or Package Topper
Tie your Nativity onto a wrapped gift for a meaningful handmade touch—perfect for grandparents or anyone who loves sentimental keepsakes.
Craft Stick Nativity Craft for Kids
You’ll begin by painting your craft sticks brown and gluing them into a classic stable shape—though you can totally leave the sticks their natural color or color them with crayons or markers if you want an even quicker setup.
Then comes everyone’s favorite part: creating Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus from more popsicle sticks, using felt pieces to dress them in simple, colorful clothes.
Add a wooden star on top (or cut your own from felt or paper!), and the whole scene comes together in the sweetest way.
**Tip- To make this manger scene craft with toddlers or young preschoolers, we recommend cutting the craft sticks and glueing the stable and figures together ahead of time.
How to Make a Popsicle Stick Manger Scene
Below you’ll find the step-by-step tutorial, already written and ready to follow. It walks you through building the stable, crafting the holy family, and putting the entire Nativity scene together. Super easy, super doable, and perfect for kids of all ages.
Materials:
- Jumbo Craft Sticks, Jumbo
- Craft Glue or a Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
- Wooden Star
- Craft Paint – Yellow, Brown, Flesh tone color of choice
- Craft Felt – White, Green, Blue Yellow
- Scissors
- Paintbrush
- Black Marker
- Pencil
- Printed pattern
Instructions:
To create the manger, line up eight jumbo craft sticks on your work surface. Attach one jumbo craft stick along the bottom edge with glue.
TIP: You can use liquid craft glue for this project, but you will have to wait for it to dry.
Cross two jumbo craft sticks to create the roof. Place the roof over the manger and trace along the roofline with a pencil.
Trim the jumbo craft sticks along the traced line with scissors.
Glue the roof to the manger.
For Jesus, measure and cut one jumbo craft stick to 2” long.
For Mary measure and cut two jumbo craft sticks to 2.5” long, then secure together with a shorter length of craft stick.
For Joseph measure and cut two jumbo craft sticks to 3” long, then secure together with a shorter length of craft stick.
Paint the manger with brown craft paint. Let dry, and apply a second coat, if necessary.
Paint the top half of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph with flesh tone color of choice craft paint. Let dry, and apply a second coat, if necessary.
Download, print, and cut out the nativity patterns.
Trace Mary’s patterns onto blue craft felt, trace Joseph’s patterns onto green craft felt, and trace Jesus’ halo onto yellow craft felt with a marker.
Cut out all patterns with scissors.
Cut 4-5 skinny strips from white felt.
Wrap the skinny white felt strips around the bottom half of Jesus, securing the ends with glue.
Glue the yellow felt halo to the back of Jesus’ head. Attach the robes and head coverings to Mary and Joseph with glue.
Draw half circle shaped closed eyes on Jesus, Mary, and Joseph with a black marker.
Paint the star with yellow craft paint. Let dry, and apply a second coat, if necessary.
Glue Mary and Joseph next to each other in the center of the manger, then secure Jesus in Mary’s arms. Attach the star to the top of the manger with glue.
This popsicle stick Nativity craft is one of those rare projects that’s both wonderfully simple and deeply meaningful. Kids get the joy of building something with their hands, while grown-ups get a keepsake that captures a little bit of the season’s wonder.
Whether you’re crafting with one child or a whole classroom, each finished Nativity becomes its own tiny reminder of the Christmas story—something handmade, heartfelt, and worth displaying year after year. It’s a craft that doesn’t just fill an afternoon… it plants a moment of calm, creativity, and faith right in the middle of the holiday rush.
